Senator Fatima Payman’s riveting conversation with David Spears on Sunday’s ABC Insiders program was powerful, erudite, compassionate and completely in line with Labor Party policy on Palestine.
With her call for the party to recognise Palestine and take action to stop the massacres, the genocide and the forced starvation that is currently taking place in Gaza, she also raised the important issue of the multicultural nature of the current government and she called on the government to listen to these multicultural voices. Clearly they are not. Does the power still lie in the hands of three white middle class males and one woman, Penny Wong who together last Sunday expelled Senator Payman from the Labor Caucus?
It seems that this government is well and truly out of step, not only with Labor rank and file, but also significantly with the Australian multicultural community, whose votes and presence in Parliament are important. The government lauds the importance of this community and is proud to have so many members of this community in the Government so long as they tow the party line and put their consciences on hold. But this government is also ignoring one of its most important backers, and also its partner, The ACTU and the national union movement that it represents.
Many unionists have been regularly attending rallies across Australia calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and for justice and recognition of Palestine. The NSW branches of the Australian Nurses and Midwives Association has passed motions calling of a ceasefire in Gaza and for recognition of Palestine as a state. Numerous bodies such as Unionist for Palestine, Union........